Enlightened Listening for January 25

Friday's never disappoint when it comes to new music, and for this week's Enlightened Listening, I've honed in on a couple albums, and the latest Afterlife EP, alongside a handful of fantastic singles. As always stream below, find individual releases linked with brief descriptions at the bottom and enjoy!

Rudimental - Toast To Our Differences
Massive album from the masters. More features than you can count, including Jess Glynne, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Maverick Sabre, and more. The kind of quality and range you can expect from one of the world's best outfits. Some easy listening poppy bits with its share of heavier, DnB stompers.

BOT - BOT New World
Serious callbacks to his crazy Crookers days with weird, often times trippy deliveries. Colourful, vibrant and transportive techno. If this means we're coming back to this style, I'm game.

Fideles - Endless Sacrifice
I cannot get enough of Afterlife at the moment, and while I would've loved to have got my hands on some of the IDs in Tale Of Us's Voyage mix, this is certainly satisfying. At times overpowering and others spine-tingling, each track has an engulfing energy that, like BOT above, takes you places.

Sheridan Grout & GXD - Dam
Was not expecting this kind of banger, but I am most certainly here for it. Reminds me of one of my favourite mixes of all time, Cosmic Gate's 2011 Essential Mix. Beyond brilliant, absolutely euphoric!

Ducky - Day Zero
Lyrically and sonically punchy. Captures the same kind of energy as early Porter Robinson/San Holo.

QUIX - Stronger (ft. Elanese)
QUIX keeps innovating and moving the bar, keeping not just us listeners on our toes but his peers too. The consummate quality he always brings is astounding, and while we may already know that, it's hard not to get blown away by the drums and brass in the second drop. Wow, just wow.

Rusko - Squeeze (Burnin)
The world is a better place with Rusko pumping out beats, and that's exactly what he did with this one: pump. Fat af, this simple stunner is sure to get rinsed out all summer long, in fact it might just speed summer along, and I don't think anyone's complaining about that...

Haus Of Panda - Kick It
I don't know what I like more: 1) that Haus Of Panda's been dropping fire like this with incredible regularity for over a year now, or 2) that he seemingly raises the bar with each release. Certainly seems as though speed house is here to stay!

Dr. Fresh x BIJOU - Gangsta Party
The masters of menacing g-house combine for a couple chest rattlers. Not for the faint of heart, these are sure to do damage on the dance-floor.

Enlightened Listening for June 29

Friday's never disappoint. Whether you want the biggest names or the freshest faces, there's always something spectacular somewhere. Hopefully I've done a good job finding a combination of both, with the usual range of genres and styles. Again I've done my best to deliver a diverse yet cohesive run through 12 tracks, from punchy PC Music stylings, through techno, house, disco, and more bass heavy bangers. Check the playlist below, read the descriptions following, and grab those free downloads.

DUCKY - Headfirst
Undeniable energy amidst a furious and fantastical flow. Great for diving into the long weekend.

Boy Sim - Solid Gold Clit (ft. Pearl)
Felt equally in your face and all over your body. Massive mind-bender of an anthem that you might not want stuck in your head, but will work its way in there regardless.

Eekkoo - Punks
Lead and title track from his just released 4 track EP. Another sensational, progressive and powerful take on techno, that delivers a godly groove with warm wobs, and tantalizing twists.

The Aston Shuffle - Everything I Got
Heavenly house with sublime synth swells that plays perfectly with the vocals (chops and otherwise).

The Pharcyde - Runnin' (Petko Turner's Extended Edit)*
Another awesome offering from Petko Turner. Big throwback vibes that will serve us well this weekend.

Fatback Band - Whicky Whacky (Count Funkula 12 Inch Fierce Discko Regroove)*
Party, party, party! Groove, groove, groove! Dance, dance, dance! Just let go and enjoy.

Family Of The Year - Hold Me Down (Autograf Remix)
Autograf deliver delicious quality as usual. This is massive, soulful and fun. Stunning.

Sultan + Shepard - I Got 5 On It
More throwback vibes brought bouncing back to beautiful life. Snappy, poppy and fun.

Tom Bull - It's My Life
Brilliantly banging bass house mix of Armand Van Helden's "You Don't Know Me." Simple yet strong.

POWERCYAN - Plutocracy (Ephixa Remix)
Stunning cinematics from Ephixa, which dive in a diabolic direction. Master craftsmanship.

NuKid x Lucille Croft - Got The Flow
Dirty, dirty, dirty stuff from NuKid as per usual. Not to sound old like Randy and in turn Stan on South Park, but I often envision bass sounds as farts, and this ones hella stanky (see here).

Diplo ft. DRAM - Don't Look Back (QUIX Remix)
Head spinning stomper of a remix. I can only imagine the exorcism that must've taken place to create the sounds in the drop. Absolutely wild.

Note tracks marked with an asterisk are available for free download.

MU5T D13 - N30 T0KY0 (JEAN BLOC R3M1X)

The latest in the Ducky and friends RAVE TOOLZ series, comes from Sweden's JEAN BLOC. He brings his a mixture of booming, hardcore and DnB to Must Die's "Neo Tokyo." When you're talking about RAVE TOOLZ, you're talking the most franticly, hype remixes of already fire tracks. Obviously then both the original and remixer are perfect for the now 82 release old series. JEAN BLOC hits on all cylinders, spinning wildly. As far as club weapons go this one is sure to leave you overwrought and delirious. Apart from the intro and short reprieve in the middle, there's no room to catch your breath. It'll turn the most disinterested dancer into a rabid raver. Get on board the train that is "Neo Tokyo," as it tears into the future. It, as with the whole RAVE TOOLZ series, is available for download free, here. FOLLOW JEAN BLOC: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Anna Lunoe - Hyperhouse Tour Megamix

The number of quality tours going around this fall is perhaps unprecedented. Whether it's Mija's FK A Genre, Destructo's Renegade, or Anna Lunoe's Hyperhouse, the slew of DJs on each is absolutely awesome. In anticipation of her tour starting next week, Anna just dropped a 35 minute mega mix, overflowing with some of the hottest tracks from her incredibly deep roster of DJs, including Vindata and Sliink who will both be at The Hoxton, Saturday November 5th. Of course the mix also includes Lunoe's latest, "Radioactive," Sleepy Tom's breakout banger, "Be Right There," and their collaborative effort, "Pusher." Then there's some magical Mija, including her remix of A-Trak and Tommy Trash's "Lose My Mind," Vindata's "Own Life" and their smash hit collab, "Better." The 12 city tour starts October 13th in Santa Barbara and works its way up the west coast through Vancouver before restarting in Washington DC, November 3rd, with a few east coast stops before heading to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. The line up varies for each stop, so check out www.itshyperhouse.com to see who of Cray, Sliink, Dombresky, Ducky, Madeaux, Mija, Nina Las Vegas, Rickyxsan, Sleepy Tom, Uniiqu3, Vindata and Wuki will be joining Anna. I've linked the facebook event for the Toronto stop, here, if you want more details and/or tickets.

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DUCKY - Don't Give Up Yet EP

After two months of silence from Ryan Hemsworth's Secret Songs collective, the indie label strikes back with perhaps its best release to date. Ever ebullient Los Angeleno, Ducky delivers a delightful four track EP, that sets a new, sparkling, standard both for her productions as well as Secret Songs'. My love for Ryan Hemsworth and Secret Songs is no secret to followers of Bump In The Hump or Enlightenment For Your Ears. Still one of my favourite tracks of all time, Henrik The Artist's "Naked," was released on Secret Songs last year. However the brilliant "Naked," may have lost a little bit of its shine as Ducky's Don't Give Up Yet is seriously scintillating.  Buoyant, bouncy and fantastically freeing, each track irrupts with unfamiliarly fresh feels.

Getting off to a blistering pace, Don't Give Up Yet begins with "Bliss," a peppy, high-spirited track with supersonic synths strides, centered around punchy percussion pops and rising bass bumps. It is the ultimate opening track, immediately catching your ear, while setting the scene for the rest of the joyous journey through sound.

The second track "Heal," sees Ducky really getting into the groove with some near nightcore driving depth and happy hardcore zest. The fluttering future vibes from the synths steal the show, placing listeners in an extremely uplifting and invigorating landscape, as though having your health restored in a Pokemon Center with Nurse Joy.

Whereas both "Bliss" and "Heal" are entirely effusive and elated tracks, there's something slightly different about the third track "Don't Look Down." While it too features the bubbly characteristics of Ducky's production quality, it has a slightly darker tone; one in which doubt and fear creep in. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about it that doesn't feel complete, which I find rather intriguing. I believe it's a deliberate ploy by Ducky in not completing many of the musical phrases the way our ears intuit it to. That being said, Ducky does not leave us hanging, as I believe "Don't Look Down" to be the most well rounded track of the EP.

Closing out Don't Give Up Yet, Ducky once again showcases her ability to create a cohesive and complete EP, not just as a compilation of similar sounding tracks, but as an artistic arc of musical movement. The grand finale "Open Yourself Up and Let Her Pour Out" once again utilizes her signature sounds, but in a more peeled back, emotional nature, indicative of the track's title. Don't Give Up Yet provides the foundation for such a fiercely fresh and expository arc, that makes it a musical marvel, truly one of the best EPs of the year.

Although the vast majority of Secret Songs collection is available for free download, Ducky's Don't Give Up Yet is not, but we can understand why; she deserves to reap the benefits of crafting such a fine piece of artwork. Add it to your Spotify or buy it via iTunes.

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